Serene Justice

After 284 days, five million words, a 15,000-page record, 300,000 affidavits, 3,000 original documents, and the oral testimony of 200 witnesses, the Nuernberg war crimes trial drew to an end. The courtroom was almost gay. French Associate Judge Robert Falco drew funny pictures which he passed from the bench down to his wife. In the dock, Builder Albert Speer was playing a game: he drew sketch after sketch of a new house for Banker Hjalmar Schacht (who rejected each version because the bathrooms were in the wrong place).

The accused made their last pleas to the bar, to the German people and to history. The strong ones spoke as though they were still addressing a Nuernberg party rally, reaffirming the faith by which they had lived and killed. The weak ones merely whimpered professions of their innocence. Then the eight judges retired to arrive at a verdict and (in the words of the French prosecutor) "a solemn and serene manifestation of justice."

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